Wire or rod cutter.



No. 802,053. PATENTED OCT. 17, 1905. T. D. MILLEA.

WIRE OR ROD CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.15,1904.

L F11 Fl FIIL EL I UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

WIRE OR ROD CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1'7, 1905.

Application filed January 15, 1904. Serial No. 189,073.

To aZZ whom, it may. concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS D. MILLEA, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden andCommonwealth of Massachusetts,liave invented a new and useful Wire orRod Cutter, (the same being an improvement on the implement set forth inUnited States Letters Patent No. 720,168, issued to me February 10,1903,) of which the following isaspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices designed to cut wire andthe like; and it consists of the kind of wrench described in theabove-mentioned patent provided with a cutting member and having asuitably-positioned wire-receiving notch, all as hereinafter more fullyexplained; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide such awrench with a strong and durable wire-cutter; second, to affordconvenient means for sharpening the wire-cutting plate or blade, and,third, to provide a tool of this character which is comparativelyinexpensive, easy to operate, and compact and serviceable. I attainthese objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side view of my combinationtool, showing the newfeatures, a portion of the fixed jaw being broken away to illustrate themanner in which wire-stretching spurs may be attached thereto; Fig. 2,an edge view of the same, only one of the aforesaid spurs being seen;and Fig. 3 an opposite side view, the spurs being omitted.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 7

In the drawings the jaws of the tool are shown closed; but it will beunderstood that they may be opened like any ordinary wrench of thiskind.

I will first proceed to describe briefly the parts of the device whichenter into the invention already patented, as noted above. A fixed orimmovable jaw a is mounted on a fixed or immovable shank Z), the lowerend of which latter forms a skeleton handle 7). A movable jaw c ismounted below the jaw a on the shank I) and has a movable shankolscrewthreaded at d'. The projecting ends of the jaw 0 or lateralprojections from the shank d are thick enough to embrace the edges ofthe shank 7), upon which said jaw slides, and a an opening in the baseof the handle I), re ceives the screw-threaded part d. The sleeve g isheld against longitudinal movement by a flange it inside of the handle6, which enters a groove 21 in said sleeve. A thumb-nut j on the outerend of the sleeve 9 facilitates rotating the latter. Projecting parts laand 79 on one side of the jaws a and-o, respectively, form a head-endwrench or hand-vise. A pipewrench is provided by serrating the loweredge of the jaw a at one end,'as shown at Z, and locating a serratedgrip m on the corresponding upper edge of the jaw 0, such grip beingheld in place by a screw f, which may also assist the screwsf insecuring the plate 6. A pipe-cutter n is suitably mounted in a recess inthe jaw c and a pipe-hole 0 made in the shank b. The cutter n extendsinto the head-end-wrench notch in the jaw 0, and the hole 0 may openinto the head-end-wrench notch in the jaw a.

By converting the plate 6 into a blade with a cutting edge and notchingor perforating one edge of the shank b at some convenient point belowsaid cutting edge when the plate 6 is in a position which will enable itto be actuated downward until the cutting edge is below the base of thenotch or perforation I have produced a servicable wire-cutter. Theaforesaid cutting edge is represented at e and a notch at p. The cuttingedge eand the top and bottom edges of the notch 2 should be inclined outof the horizontal in order to produce the best results, since the wireis thus subjected to two sharp edges during the process of cuttingthatis, the edge of the plate 6 next to the shank 5 and the lower front edgeof the notch pwhile the upper rear edge of said notch, which is alsosharp, assists in holding said wire during such process.

The above-described wire-cutter forms a part of the invention set forthin British Patent No. 2,459 of February 2, 1903; French Patent No.329,016, of February 2, 1903; Belgian Patent No. 168,211, also ofFebruary 2, 1903, and Canadian Patent No. 80,789, of May 5, 1903.

In operation the shank (Z is actuated upward through the medium of thethumb-nut y' until the cutting edge e of the plate or blade 6 is abovethe notch 19. Then the wire to be operated upon is placed in said notchand said thumb-nut turned in the opposite direction to actuate saidblade downward until said cut, ting edge has severed the wire.

If the cutting edge 6 becomes dull, the blade 6 can be taken off byremoving the screws f and f, when said cutting edge may be easilysharpened, after which said blade is replaced. This is an importantadvantage and one which is often absent from ordinary wire-cutters.

From the foregoing it will be observed that in the present constructionthe plate or blade 6 serves the double purpose of assisting in unitingthe movable and immovable parts of the tool and uniting them in such amanner as to render them easily detachable and of constituting a cutterwhich is detachable.

A wire-stretcher which may be combined with the other features of theWrench comprises a plurality of spurs projecting from the upper or outerlongitudinal edge of the fixed jaw, such spurs being either integralwith or permanently attached to said jaw or removably connectedtherewith, the latter arrangement being preferred. The edge portion ofthe fixed jaw, from which the spurs extend, should be rounded or curvedlongitudinally or be made up of different planes for reasons which willbe obvious upon a full understanding of the operation of the stretcher.In the present instance I show three spurs q, screw-threaded at theirbases and having their sides flattened, and I provide screw-threadedopenings 1" in the upper edge of the jaw a to receive the screw-threadedportions of said spurs. By flattening the sides of the spurs q above thescrew-threaded portions convenient means is afforded for applying awrench to the same for the purpose of seating said spurs in the jaw ordetaching them therefrom. By making the spurs detachable the tool isrendered more convenient when it is not desired to use the same forstretching wire, because they would then be more or less in the way ifnot removed. Although three spurs (1 have been shown, it is clear thatmore or less than that number may be employed. By preference each spurshould be so arranged relative to the curve of the jaw a, which itintersects, that its longitudinal center will stand approximately atright angles to the cord of an arc of said curve and will beapproximately in the center of said cord.

When the spurs q are in position as hereinbefore described, the tool maybe used as a wire-stretcher by first engaging the wire between the jaws(t and c at either end or by inserting one end of the jaw a in a loop inthe Wire and sticking the spur nearest the wire into something,preferably of wood-as a Wooden fence-post, for example-then whilegripping the handle rock the implement until the next spur pierces thewood and still again, if necessary, until the third spur likewise entersthe Wood. After the wire is sufficiently stretched and while being heldtight by the implement it is fastened. This construction provides for avery powerful and positive wire-stretcher having sufiieient range ofaction for most practical purposes. As before intimated, it does notmatter how the wire is attached to the jaw or jaws so long as thefastening is made secure.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, in a tool of the class designated, of an immovableshank havinga wirereceivingopeningtherein,aninternally-screw threadedsleeve held in said shank against longitudinal movement, a movable shankprovided with a screw-threaded part in engagement with said sleeve, awire-cutting plate or blade connected with said movable shank adjacentthe wire-receiving opening in the immovable shank, and means tofacilitate the rotation of the sleeve.

2. The combination, in a tool of the class designated, of an immovableshank havinga wirereceiving opening therein,an internally-screwth readedsleeve held in said shank against longitudinal movement, a movable shankprovided with a screw-threaded part in engagement with said sleeve, aremovable wire-cutting plate or blade connected with both sides of saidmovable shank adjacent the wire-receiving opening in the immovable shankand overlapping the latter, and means to facilitate the rotation of thesleeve.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS D. MILLEA.

Witnesses:

M. J. CARROLL, F. A. CUTTER.

